


Clear As Day

by SummonerYuki



Category: League of Legends
Genre: M/M, Nothing feisty just some small language here and there in regards to the rating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:33:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22354144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummonerYuki/pseuds/SummonerYuki
Summary: "things you said that i wasn't meant to hear."Graves/TF for an old prompt list.
Relationships: Malcolm Graves/Twisted Fate
Comments: 2
Kudos: 42





	Clear As Day

When you'd brought it up the next day, he’d stared at you like the idiot you were.

“...you’re making this shit up Malcolm, an’ it ain’t too funny,” Tobias had growled back at you, shoulders hiking as the brim of his hat covered his face. “What would get it in your head to take that seriously anyway?”

You’d bristled back, but you couldn’t deny that it was ridiculous, not to mention cliche as hell. You let it drop for now. You both had work to do, and letting your feelings get in the way wouldn’t help.

That evening it happened again, clear as day.

_“...love you, Malcolm.”_

Neither of you had been too happy about having to share a bed in the first place, but it was all you could afford—a dingy inn room with nothing but a single bed, a lopsided dresser, and a shower with more grime in it than the underside of any ship in Bilgewater. You laid awake that night and stared at the ceiling as Tobias snored next to you, and you heard him speak: clearly, undeniably. It made your brow furrow and your hands clench. You slept in the shower that night, a thin bedsheet just barely sparing you from the slimy wood below.

The next day he denied you again, but you were sore and cranky from the lack of sleep and the night in the shower, so this time you pushed it.

“Listen Tobias, my ears are workin’ jus’ fine, and I heard what I heard,” you snapped at him. He scoffed and turned his back on you, but you were quicker than him, one hand flying out to grab his shoulder. “Now are you gonna explain yourself or am I gonna have to beat it out of you?”

Tobias pushed back, but your grip was firm, and the card shark knew struggling would be useless. He wasn’t much physically without his deck, and if he wasn’t in for an ass-beating now he would be if he tried to pull anything with it.

“What’s your problem, why are you so caught up on this?!” he barked back, hands tightening around your thick wrist even though he wasn’t trying to pull away. “Why would you even take it that seriously—“

“You _know_ why, Tobias. You know what you did.”

“I was drunk that time and it wasn’t serious. Sorry to disappoint.”

“Drunk my _ass_ , I’ve seen you drunk and that wuddin’t it.”

“Just let it _go_ —"

“I already let it go once. Hell, _twice_ , seein’ as ya helped yerself to shovin’ yer tongue down my throat already.”

Tobias let out a shrill, indignant sound, and he wrenched himself away from you this time. You let him go, but the moment you saw his flushed cheeks peeking from beneath the shadow of his hat you couldn’t help but grab him again, pushing him with your chest to the nearest building and pinning him there against the wall.

“Talk to me, Tobias,” you said, and your voice was low in the closest you could get to soothing. His chest was heaving against yours. You could feel his heartbeat first, and his fear next. “Ain’t gotta be scared,” you added as an afterthought, and it made him scoff.

“Yeah _right_. Ain’t gotta be scared about nothin’ that’ll do us no good. You don’t know what you’re asking for, Malcolm.”

“Sure do. Jus’ asking for the truth from ya is all.”

“And then what?” Tobias snapped back. His hat, the brim of which had been barely touching your forehead, pushed forward to bend and scrape against your nose. “What good’ll knowing do? You gonna have a good laugh? Gonna court me like some woman?”

“Now hold on—"

“This ain’t no fairytale, Malcolm, and you sure as hell ain’t look like any damn prince charming I’ve ever seen,” Tobias continued, but his voice wavered, as if the words he spoke hurt himself more than you. He placed his palms against your chest and pushed weakly. “So if you understand, then let me go.”

“I don’t. I don’t understand.”

He grunted when you pushed back, head turning away in embarrassment. You reached down and gruffly cupped his chin in your palm but didn’t force him to look at you.

“Yer just making this stuff up in yer head, givin’ up before I even have a say in it. Runnin’ away like always.”

You felt his body stiffen, but he kept his head turned, still unable to look at you. You felt bad for a moment, like a child picking on a kid he liked.

“Jus’—jus’ don’t go decidin’ things for yerself before hearing my side of it. I know... I know I ain’t no prince charmin’, but I’m all you got in this shithole and I’ll try my damn best.”

You could feel your whole face going numb in embarrassment, and you both paused awkwardly, unable to look at each other. Several moments passed, and eventually Tobias cleared his throat.

“You... you’re a real piece of work, aren’t ya.”

“No worse than you, that’s fer damn sure.”

“ _Heh_.” Tobias pushed you away with his elbow, and you let him. He didn’t try to run, and he stayed up against the wall, less than an arm’s length away from you. He’d always struck you as the wily type, like some lone coyote on the edge of the action, slinking away at the first sight of danger. He was like that now, staying close enough to give you hope but turned away enough to say that he’d run at first notice.

“...where would we go from here, Malcolm. Tell me where this road will lead us.”

“Uhh...”

You hadn’t actually thought that far ahead. Usually it was all cat and mouse with him, skirting the issue no matter what it was, staying on the edge of commitment to any one thing. Hell, even the heists you two had pulled together always seemed secondary to him, like running away was always the main plan. For him to even suggest that there was a road in the first place left you dumbstruck. You stood there silently, mouth open, until he finally took his hat off to look at you.

“Uhh... drinks?” you offered in the wake of his gaze, and he laughed at that, from deep inside his chest. It made your heart warm, even if you were a little bit uneasy.

“Prince charming you ain’t, that’s for sure... but yeah, drinks are alright. For starters.”

You looked away, but you were happy, and you were sure it showed.

“That’s fine...”

“Let’s get going, we still have plans to make before sundown.”

You nodded; another heist was soon, and wasting time wasn’t going to help either of you. The man turned, the edge of his cape billowing as he strode quickly away from you, and you followed after.

“Oh, and Malcolm?”

“Yeah?”

“Sleep in the bed tonight.”

Your face ignited, and you could only nod and grumble at the laugh he sent floating back at you over his shoulder.

**Author's Note:**

> Found this typed on my phone recently, apparently I wrote it last July - probably at some godforsaken hour, which explains why I don't remember it. I think I haven't posted in a year or so now? Please enjoy! :)


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